A Battle Of Wits: Demonstrators Get Creative At Anti-Government Protests In Belarus

Protesters often compare long-serving, authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to a cockroach, thanks to Syarhey Tsikhanouski, the blunt-talking vlogger who called for Belarusians to take up their slippers to "squash" Lukashenka. Tsikhanouski, who tried to run for president in the August 9 vote, was arrested in Minsk in June and remains in government custody. His wife, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, ran in his place and is now in exile in Lithuania after a vote she says was rigged.

The protester on the right holds a sign that reads: "I'm not a criminal. I have a job." It is a reference to Lukashenka's speech on August 12 in which he said, "The core of all these so-called protesters are people with a criminal past, currently unemployed. They have no job, so they can wander in the streets and avenues."

On August 16, Belarusians living in the Czech Republic, along with their supporters, gathered to form a human "heart" during a Prague rally to show solidarity and support for anti-government protesters in Belarus.

Performers on stilts and dressed in the colors of the historical white-red-white flag of Belarus take part in an anti-government protest in Minsk on August 16.

A protester holds a sign that reads: "[Central Election Commission], fix the bugs," a reference to possible computer "errors" that officially handed Lukashenka 80 percent of the vote.

A protest by women in Minsk on August 12. The sign says, "Love cannot be forced."

A woman attends a protest in Minsk on August 13 with a tattoo on her leg that says: "Flowers are better than bullets."

Women attend a rally in in Moscow on August 15 to show solidarity with Belarusian protesters. The sign on the left reads: "The time for love has come." The sign on the right says: "Women are peace and love. Long live Belarus."

The sign says: "Let go with the blue fingers." It's a reference to a statement in November 2019 by Lukashenka. He told reporters then that he would not hold on to the presidency with fingers that would turn blue from gripping it too tightly.

Belarusian women at a peaceful anti-government protest in Homel on August 16. The sign reads: "Today they give us flowers. Tomorrow they beat our kidneys."

Shortly after the August 9 election in which many potential candidates were blocked from running, Lukashenka called anti-government demonstrators "sheep" organized by "puppeteers" from abroad. At a March For Freedom in Minsk, a woman (center) holds a sign that reads: "I am a sheep."

A man holds a sign that says, "I'm ashamed to wear a mustache," referring to the same facial hair worn by Lukashenka.

A man holds a sign that says, "The king has no clothes," during an opposition rally in Minsk on August 16.